


When Hell is Full

by frankiieffect



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel and Jimmy as Twins, F/M, Fun fact I cant write sex scenes so there will prob not be too much description, M/M, Protective Dean...as always, Zombie Apocalypse, i promise that the anna/dean/cas triangle doesn't screw over anna
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-14 20:00:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/840801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankiieffect/pseuds/frankiieffect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A deadly outbreak of an engineered virus has killed almost 2/3 of the population. With the threats of death, a power-hungry gangster, and being eaten alive looming around him, Castiel believes in only two things: that he can find the cure that can stop the virus, and that Dean Winchester is the most stubborn ass he has ever met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In The Beginning...

_They were coming._

Castiel felt the sharp cold sting his face as he ran through the streets. He was an idiot...he was stupid and made a mistake...

 _Why didn't he pay better attention?_ _He knew better than to be out in the open...he knew better.  
_

But it was too late for that now, because he could hear them chasing him. He felt his heart pounding against his chest, making it harder to breathe as he kept running from the un-dead behind him. The large bag of supplies on his back kept jumping up and down on his spine - large bruises would form there, and he prayed the contents inside weren't being damaged in his chase. But a deeper worry hung in his head; if he didn't outrun this...he may never make it back to Jimmy. He felt the tears sting his eyes - he would never see Jimmy again. How could his brother make it without him? Castiel felt his heart drop as he kept running.  _He failed._

They were getting closer, and Castiel took a sharp right turn on the street.  _Mistake!_ He had reached a dead end. The wall was made of solid brick, and there were no places to grip and climb over. Castiel turned to see the horde coming at him from the entry of the alley. He felt himself hit the ground in fear, the bag slumping next to him. His chest heaved in and out as he kept gasping, his eyes starting to cloud over from tears and panic. He stared the mass of disgusting, dead bodies slinking towards him, hearing the groans coming from their ripped out and bleeding mouths, their breath reeking with blood and meat, and watching their hands (or what was left of them) reaching out for him, slinking ever so closer to their next meal.

He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come...

_"I promise I won't be gone long."_

_"That's what you said the last time."_

_Castiel could remember feeling annoyance at his brother. They had done this numerous times, but James Novak was always the more cautious of the two. Castiel gripped his twin's shoulder, like he always did to show he wasn't afraid, to be the courageous older brother.  
_

_"I'm going to be fine. I just...I just need a few things."  
_

_"Is this about Dad's thing?"_

_Castiel looked down, avoiding the eyes that were an exact match to his. Without another word, he turned towards the door, his bag on his back, which rattled slightly with different noises coming from within it.  
_

_"Castiel...please-"_

_"Jimmy, stop."_

_"-Don't leave me."_

_Castiel fought back tears. "I have to, Jimmy. For dad."_

_"Fuck dad, Cas! It's just the two of us now! You can't go!"_

_But no reply came from Castiel as he closed the door behind him, tears starting to sting his eyes. It was those words that haunted and repeated in his mind as he walked the back alleys of the little town they had come to. It was desolate, like the others they have been in, with debris and chaos on the ground and on the walls of several buildings. Many had fire damage, while others looked looted. But it wasn't those buildings that Castiel had to concentrate on getting to - it was the empty main street in the middle of town._

_It's suicide, his kept telling himself. But he had no other choice. He needed the samples from this town, just like he had done so many times in the past. He had a mission to finish.  
_

_As soon as he could see the town square from his hiding spot in an alley, he looked around, cautious of his movements and breathing. He could see the carnage from even this distance - strewn and bloodied bodies, many ripped apart, but some still intact, surprisingly. He knew this is where ground zero for this town must've occurred._ _They must have been having some kind of town meeting when this all started, and it was right in the middle of town...they were live bait. He noticed the bodies of dead soldiers as well, their guns bloodied and definitely used against the horde that attacked. He walked through the mass of bodies, noticing mothers clutching the hands of eaten children, the men with legs missing...the carnage should've made him sick, but he had lost all feeling of seeing death almost 2 years ago. He bent down next to a college-aged guy - or what remained of him, as a good chunk of the kid's head was missing- and Castiel reached into his bag and pulled out two syringes, injecting one into the corpse's arm, taking as much blood as the syringe could._

_It was when he was injecting the second needle when he heard a crash coming from in front of him. He stopped immediately, looking up to see about 5 rotting corpses staggering towards him. Not taking his eyes off of them, he stashed the syringes back into his bag and slowly backed away, not taking his eyes off the moving bodies. He knew if he ran, they would catch his movement immediately. He then slowly stood up, careful not to make any sudden movements, and trying to quiet his footsteps...until he heard a snap from underneath him, and noticed his hand had hit one of the downed guns on the ground. He looked up and noticed that the bodies heard it too, and then heard one of the zombies screech something horrible - he didn't hesitate...he turned and ran._

_He didn't know the town very well, so every turn he made made him even more lost than before; he tried to make sense of his surroundings though, as he wanted to avoid the area where he left his brother, which became priority as he sprinted through the mess of cars, debris, and dead bodies in the street. He made random turns onto different streets to try to evade the horde, but they were gaining on him. He was jumping over random things now, trying to remember which streets were still open and wouldn't make him end up in a dead-end..._

_But that nightmare happened when he heard, coming from his left, another group of the un-dead joining the small horde behind him. His mind blanked, and he turned into what he thought was another open street - until he found himself in an alley, the end having a large brick wall, and no way to try to reach higher ground or escape the disgusting moans from behind him..._

His panicked mind was too busy remembering that he almost didn't notice that nothing was touching him...what he thought was going to be the dead-scented, gurgled breath of the horde was instead replaced by sound of gunfire.

He opened his eyes to see the zombies hitting the ground, one by one, bullet holes through their skulls. The loud WHACK of an axe had found its target in a zombie's head, and it fell to the ground as well. In just a few seconds, the group of zombies were all dead, blood pouring from their skull wounds onto the pavement. He slid back against the wall as far as he could, trying to escape the bodies and smell. When it finally hit him that they were, in fact, dead, he looked up.

It was a small group of... _survivors._ Castiel tried to stand up, but the shakiness in his legs prevented him. He lay there, surprised and thankful, as those heroes slowly approached him. The group consisted of four members, with the smallest being a red-headed woman in the back, who was surveying the dead deceased on the ground. The other three members were men, each with a weapon of their own. The tallest of the members was in the front, who walked over to the fallen Castiel and and he held out his hand to him.

"Thank God we found you when we did." The man said.

Castiel took the mans' hand, and was lifted up from the ground. "Tha-thank you." The man looked down and noticed the dropped bag. He scooped it up and handed it to a still-shaking Castiel, who acknowledged the gesture with a nod.

The man smiled. "What's your name?"

"Ca-Ca...Castiel." Castiel replied, still shaky, and slung the bag over his shoulder.

"The name's Sam. Sam Winchester." The man said. "Are you alone?"

"Y-yes." 

Sam raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Well, you are a trooper."

"I'm sorry?"

"We spotted you running from the square, and noticed you didn't even have a gun." Sam chuckled. "As we were running over here, I just thought that you had to be the toughest and bravest son of a bitch I had ever seen."

Castiel shook his head. "I don't have a gun, well, not anymore." He sighed. "I lost it in Indianapolis."

"Well, that still makes you tough, but toughness can only get you so far nowadays. You should come with us. We can protect you."

"Us?"

"We, yeah, we can't just leave you here, man. That would be rude." Sam said, and he turned to the group. "That's Anna," he pointed to the pretty girl and the bloodied axe. At the call of her name, she looked up and smiled at Castiel. He smiled back. "That's Gabriel," he pointed to a long-haired man, who was checking his gun. "And Baltahazar." He pointed to the last of their group, who smiled and waved at Castiel. Castiel waved back. He noticed how... _handsome_ Gabriel and Balthazar were. Gabriel looked up and gave Castiel a grin, which made him look like he could've been up to something.

Castiel cleared his throat. "Those names are..."

"Weird?" Sam replied, grinning.

"No... _my_  name is weird. I meant to say...creative."

The one called Gabriel laughed, hitting the other man, who looked at the laughing man with annoyance, and then back at Castiel. "Well, we all are named after angels, I think. Gabriel and Balthazar are  _definitely_ angel names, like, straight out of the Bible or something." Balthazar replied, surprising Castiel with his British accent. "I think Castiel is an angel name too, if I can recall correctly."

"I guess. I really don't know. Castiel and Jimmy really aren't angel names." Castiel replied.

"Jimmy? Who's Jimmy?" Anna asked.

"Oh he's my..." Castiel paled. "My brother! He has to know I'm safe!"

Sam took Castiel's shoulder. "It's okay! We'll go find him and take him to base...we can take both of you, okay? Just tell us where he is."

Castiel nodded. "We were hiding in the old movie theater. We've only been here for a few days, and that looked like the safest place to hole out for a while. We've..." Castiel paused. "We've only had each other since this whole thing started."

Gabriel and Anna looked at each other, and then nodded. Balthazar then spoke. "I'll go back to base, tell the boss that we're getting some new friends. Anna and Sam could go with you to the theatre?"

"I'll go with you then, Balthie. I am in a super dire need of a hot bath," Gabriel said, looking at his brother with a grin. "And maybe a hot lady." Balthazar groaned and rolled his eyes, as Anna scoffed and punched Gabriel in the arm. "What?" He said, rubbing his arm. "I have needs!"

"Your needs are so self-centered, Gabe." Anna replied.

"I'm a selfish guy, little one." Came the reply. "I am very into  _me._ "

"Good god," Balthazar groaned, placing his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "How did I get stuck with _you_?"

Castiel and Sam looked at each other, with the taller man shaking his head and smiling. Castiel breathed out as he said, "That would be perfect. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Anna smiled at Castiel. "No problem. Let's go."

\---

The trio crossed the street, which was filled with papers and burned cars. There weren't any bodies as they approached the theater, which Castiel had guessed was more on the outside of the town, a bit far from the first sets of carnage, but the splatters of blood indicated that fights against the dead have occurred there. Being a large-sized city, the first days of the virus were chaotic, with casualties hitting high as the zombies rose in numbers. Castiel couldn't help but think of those that died just at the hands of the military. He hissed inwardly - the military should've been the allies. Instead, they killed off anyone that tried to go through their blockade - even those that were infection-free. But that was all in the past now. Castiel sighed, and adjusted the bag around his shoulder. 

Sam noticed this. "I could carry it, I mean, if you'd like. It looks kinda heavy."

Castiel smiled and shook his head. "It's fine, really, there's only...uh...only a few food supplies in, uh, in here." He nervously shifted the back again and swallowed. "I-I heard that this old store was burnt down, but that some things managed to survive. I heard that an old safe-house was holding some supplies for anyone still alive. I'm glad I went - there was just so much I could get for me and my brother, you know?"

"It really sounds like you two have been on your own for quite some time." Anna said, speaking from behind him. "How long?"

Castiel turned his head to look at her. Her eyes shone bright at him. He coughed. "Uh almost two years...yeah...after this whole thing happened, my father told me to take care of him. My responsibility."

"Kinda sounds like my brother." Sam replied.

"You have a brother?" Castiel asked.

Sam nodded. "Yep. He's older than me, and stubborn. I'm a lot nicer." He ran his hand through his shoulder-length hair. "And prettier." Anna laughed, and Castiel laughed with her, glad that that particular conversation was over.

They walked a few more yards until they finally reached the street across from the entrance of the theater. The front doors were boarded up with odd-shaped pieces of wood, with the marquee display above reading as "Cap-ta-- A--er-i--: Ci-il Wa-", showing how dated the whole apocalypse really was. 

Castiel pointed to the side of the building. "There's an entrance over there. The zombies don't know about it, cause it kinda blends in, and it's secure. When we got into town, I fortified it so they couldn't get in if I had to leave."

"Right." Sam said, and the three of them went to the gated entrance. Castiel went first, hunching down to go through a small hole through the gate, which Anna and Sam followed suit, and Castiel led them through one of the back doors of the theater, and soon, they all were inside the lobby of the theater. Fallen popcorn bags and candy wrappers lay everywhere, and a large poster overhead was threatening to fall. Ironically, it advertised some zombie movie that was supposed to have released the week all of this had started. Castiel always liked that poster - it held a piece of the past that was ignorant to what the future could hold.

"Ew." Anna called out, poking at a decomposing body at the snack counter. "Even after the world goes to hell, the theater  _still_ smells like popcorn. Gross."

Sam and Castiel laughed. "He's probably in one of the old camera booths. Number 5 is his favorite...something about the camera being in good condition or something." Castiel said. He led them through the hallways of the theater, and then through a door, which led the trio up some stairs and into a corridor with many doors, each marked with a number. When they got to a door marked with the number 5, Castiel knocked, and then entered.

Inside was a man hunched over the old movie camera projection. Castiel went up to him and softly placed a hand on his back. The man jumped and looked up, and relief washed on his face. "Thank god! I thought you...you were..."

Castiel nodded. "I'm fine, really." His brother stood up and they hugged. When they separated, Jimmy looked over at the strangers.

"Who-?" he started to ask.

"Jimmy," Castiel replied. "I want you to meet some...friends."

Anna smiled and carefully stepped forward, extending a friendly hand to him. "Hi, Jimmy. I'm Anna."

Jimmy looked up a bit, cautiously looked at the hand, and shook it with his own. "...Hi."

Sam walked forward a step. "And I'm Sam. Nice to meet you, Jimmy."

Jimmy just nodded at the tall man.

Castiel looked at his new friends, who looked astonished as they surveyed the projection room. There were scattered papers with writings, all of which were Jimmy's handwriting. Castiel was never the tech-savvy one of the two, so when Sam looked at him and Castiel shook his head, Sam's eyebrows raised in amazement. "My brother's a genius," Castiel said. "If we weren't in hell, he'd be at MIT right now."

Jimmy smiled and looked at his brother. "I hate to brag but...yeah, I am pretty clever."

Sam cleared his throat. His tall stature scared the younger twin, who cowered back a step. Sam coughed, realizing that he seemed imposing. "Jimmy, you know, if you came with us, you could bring that projector to base, and if you're able to fix it, the base would be grateful for a movie night."

Jimmy looked up at Sam. "Base? What base?"

Castiel put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Jimmy, they saved me. And now, they're going to save _us_. They have a base that we can live at."

Jimmy looked up at his brother. "Really?" Castiel nodded. Jimmy looked at Anna, who gave him a friendly smile. The younger Novak twin then sighed and looked at his brother, their striking blue eyes meeting. "Then, what are we waiting for?"

\---

Castiel couldn't believe it.

Yesterday, it was just him and his brother, alone in the world, no one to turn to and no real place to call home. They were a few states away from their home in Pontiac, IL - of course they couldn't go back home...Chicago was one of the first cities that was overrun, and naturally, all the suburbs surrounding the Windy City became a feeding ground for the un-dead. It came as no surprise to Castiel that the states that were seen as 'nothing but wheat and religious signs' was almost completely free of hordes of zombies, it did come as a surprise to him that anyone was living in the middle of nowhere to escape that chaos - a brilliant plan to escape the crumbling ruins of what used to be the land of the free.

Today, he was walking with his brother and four complete strangers who have offered them shelter, food, and safety. If only Dad could see him now. _If only..._

The four were walking back to the base, with Sam leading in front of them. Jimmy was holding on to the bag on his side, adjusting it every few minutes to keep it steady. He had insisted on taking some gadgets with them to the base, against Castiel's better judgement. But Sam had assured him that they needed more technology on the base, and that Jimmy's knowledge on the stuff could be useful, so Castiel finally agreed - but he didn't know that Jimmy would take a large, heavy bag with them. Castiel had previously offered to take the bag from his brother, but Jimmy had protested, saying that he could carry it, that he wasn't a child. Castiel smiled -  _he might just be growing up. Finally._

Anna was checking her axe and occasionally glancing at Castiel, who noticed this, and awkwardly tried to talk to her, thinking of conversation starters, but his mind kept his mouth shut, not wanting to sound like a massive idiot. He wasn't the best at talking with women- his college days definitely showed this, as he mostly spent his time studying in his room than going out partying with his classmates. He chuckled as a few memories replayed in his head showing his roommates trying to coerce him out of his room to actually talk to girls.

But that was before...that was a lifetime ago. His roommates were most likely all dead (or worse), and the pretty college girls were all gone. He mentally fought with himself, as though Anna was really the last woman on earth, and that this was his only chance to actually be with a girl. _Dear god, I am sounding more and more like a tool every day._ But finally, he spoke up.

"So, I don't want to be rude..." Castiel started. "But a pretty girl like you...how did you get to be so handy with a large weapon like that? And with a group like Sam and Gabriel?"

_Smooth first line, assbutt._

Anna smiled. "I was pretty handy with tools like these back in the day. I helped my dad with cars and whatever. I took better care of myself than my parents could-I'm not saying they didn't raise me right, cause they did, but I could handle myself pretty well. Plus," she continued. "They found me. Dean thought I was weak, cause...well, I'm pretty tiny. But then, I finished off a zom while he had his back turned. The rest of the base say I'm as tough as Dean."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, but Dean doesn't like it that much, but, I swear, every time someone says that, he grins a little." Anna smiled. "Dean and Sam...they're like the brothers I never had. They take care of me."

Castiel looked back to Sam, who was still leading the group. "So...your brother..." Castiel spoke at him.

Sam turned his head a little, but kept walking. "My brother?"

"Leader, huh? That seems like a huge responsibility, given what we all have to go through."

Castiel could see Sam smile as he replied. "Yeah. Well, since Mom died, Dad taught us how to use guns and knives and stuff. All came in handy when the world started to end."

"And... _Dean_...will not mind you bringing us to your base?" Jimmy asked.

"I think it'll be fine." Anna replied. "Survivors are hard to come by, especially un-infected ones. Plus, if you're handy in anything, we could sure use you."

They quieted after that. A mile later, Castiel spotted the base. It was huge, with a tall brick wall surrounding it. He could see guards balancing on the wall, guns in hand. Behind the wall, he could see a few roofs of buildings, and what looked to be a large metal tower in the center. Castiel gaped. "Wow," was all he could say.

The four of them approached the gate, which Castiel counted were at least five men. Sam shouldered his gun.

"Hey, Kevin."

A smallish looking kid walked up to the group, and then hugged Sam. "Thank god! I thought you were goners!"

"Nope. But these two might have." Sam replied, and gestured to Castiel and Jimmy. "Castiel, Jimmy, meet Kevin Tran."

Kevin had to been only 17, Castiel guessed, and probably one of the kids that Jimmy would've hung out with in high school. His hair was kinda messy, and there looked to be a smear of grease on his left cheek, but the kid looked nice enough. When Castiel nodded to him, Kevin smiled again and went up to Castiel, and they shook hands. "Pleasure to meet you, Kevin Tran." Castiel said.

"It's great to see new faces around here!" Kevin replied, and then faced Anna. "Bobby said that if you ever came back, you should go look for him in communications."

Anna nodded. "Right. See you inside, boys!" She waved and walked to the gate, where it was opened for her.

Kevin looked back at Castiel. "So, what do you do, then?"

Castiel shrugged. "I'm pretty handy in medical, I guess. I was training to be a doctor. Jimmy here," he gestured to Jimmy, who slunk back behind his brother in shyness. "is good with technology."

"Cool! I was an honors student." Kevin replied. "Still was in high school though. But hey, I wanted to be a doctor too."

"So you must be very smart then?" Castiel asked.

"Eh, not anymore. I pretty much forgot all about math and physics and stuck to shooting things. My mom would've hated it, actually." Kevin turned to look at the other Novak twin. "Jimmy, right? Hey, I could take you to our communications yard, show you what we have? I bet you'd be real useful there."

Jimmy ducked his head, running his hand through his hair in shyness. "Yeah?" He said. Kevin nodded, and Jimmy reluctantly followed him towards the gate, which left Sam and Castiel outside of the gates.

"Well then. Why don't I show you around, huh?" Sam said. Castiel nodded, and they walked through the gates, which slammed shut behind them.

\---

The grounds of the base was held off in some field a little outside of town. A few barns were in Castiel's sight, and the wall surrounding the place must've been built when the virus struck, because it all looked almost new. Guards were posted every so often around the wall, and the large watchtower was slightly in the center of everything. There were a lot of tents, some big and some small, all round the base, with makeshift houses near the barns. Jimmy was definitely impressed, Castiel noticed, as he kept looking at everything around him, taking in what could almost be described as paradise compared to the living conditions they have lived in for the last two years.

Jimmy gasped as he noticed the center of the base. "A watchtower? How in the hell-?"

"Yeah, we kinda built it from the ground up." Sam said. "Dean's idea, actually. He wanted to see beyond the walls, in case of any threats coming our way."

Castiel frowned. "Threats?"

"Yeah...well, there's more than zombies out there, Castiel." Sam replied.

"Oh..." _It had been a while since seeing some still alive, but Castiel instantly knew that Sam was talking about the military forces that were deployed when the virus struck. It had been a disaster really, since the virus struck during Christmastime, so there weren't that many on active duty anyway; but scrambling to restore chaos was apparently Washington's number one priority at the time, instead of trying to contain the recently un-deceased, so when the masses were being assaulted, they didn't hesitate - the soldiers shot everything and everyone on site...even the innocents that hadn't even had the chance to be infected. Once word spread that the military were cutting down the uninfected, people revolted, naturally, and what could only be described as a civil war broke out between the soldiers and the civilians. Many didn't make it through the firefights across the country...many didn't survive when the hordes of zombies attacked and they had no way to defend themselves. Castiel cursed under his breath after hearing that news that he would never again trust a soldier...they were trigger-happy, and many couldn't recognize the alive from the dead._ "Right," he continued. "But I haven't seen any formations of soldiers in months."

Sam nodded. "Neither have we, which is suspicious, to say the least. We would see them march across the hills, almost a hundred of them, heading north. We would always be on guard for them once spotted, but they never came towards us. I mean, it's not like we're hidden, with the watchtower being as high as it is, but they have never approached our grounds." He rubbed his hand through his hair. "Still, we keep a close eye on the horizon."

"But if they did come close, we'd totally kill them." Kevin said. Castiel looked at him and Kevin grinned. "I mean, it's been a while since I've been in a good old fashioned fight."

"But they have guns, Kevin." Sam said.

"So do I." Kevin replied.

"Seriously, what happened to the innocent honors kid that stumbled into our camp? He wasn't that bloodthirsty."

Kevin shrugged. "I grew up."

As Castiel followed Sam, with Jimmy and Kevin behind them, he heard someone call Sam's name. They both turned to see a skinny man with an old baseball cap walking towards them, and next to him an old man with a beard and a shotgun in one hand and a grim-looking face. "Sam! 'bout time you showed!" The skinny man cried out. "C'mere man."

In reply, Sam walked to the man and hugged him. "Hey, Garth."

Garth laughed. "Glad you're safe, bro." He then high-fived Kevin.

It was then the old man spoke up. "So, you brought some new ones, huh?" He said, looking at Castiel and Jimmy.

Castiel stood there, confused. "Uh, yes sir-?"

"Bobby, this is Castiel and his brother Jimmy." Sam cut in, pointing at Castiel, and then at Jimmy. Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Guys, this is Garth and Bobby - they're like the gun-men around here."

"Pleased to meet you boys." Garth said, shaking Castiel's hand. 

"Nice to meet you." Castiel replied. Garth smiled.

"Hey, Bobby, I need to find Dean...you know where he might be?" Sam asked the old man.

Bobby grunted and shrugged, letting the shotgun drop to his side. "Last I saw him, he was at the kitchens. Check there."

Sam chuckled. "Of course. I'll get him. I think he'll want to meet these two. Be right back." And with that, gave a small wave to Castiel and jogged out of view.

Castiel took in his surroundings. The base was  _amazing._  Castiel guessed over 100 people must've been taking refuge here. He also noticed that each person was equipped with some kind of weapon - some had large guns, while others had pistols and knives. He even saw one woman carrying a machete.

A moment later, he spotted Anna, and waved at her, and she smiled and waved back, and walked towards the group. "Like it?" She asked.

"It's amazing!" Came Jimmy's reply.

"I think you boys are gonna like it here." She said.

"For the end of the world, this Dean guy pretty much figured everything out..." Castiel said to his brother, who nodded in reply.

"It's amazing, Castiel! We HAVE to stay here! I spotted some tech back there!" Jimmy responded, grinning from ear to ear.

"So, you're a techie, huh? We need another smart kid." A voice replied.

Castiel looked to his right to see Sam and another man approaching. Castiel suddenly froze at his figure. His deep green eyes pierced him...and he didn't know why. The man was a bit shorter than Sam, but he held his stature high. He had a thigh holster, which held some kind of pistol, and sling-ed around him was a large sub-machine gun. He came up to Castiel in what seemed like slow-motion. He almost looked like a model...Castiel had to cough a few times to knock himself out of the apparent daydream that he was having.

"So, you're Castiel and Jimmy? Welcome." The man said, stretching out his hand. Castiel shook it. "I'm Dean Winchester."

Castiel nodded, still not looking away from Dean's eyes. He breathed out, not realizing he had been holding his breath for the last 5 seconds. "T-thanks for letting us stay."

Dean nodded. "No problem. We take any survivors we can. Can't be too stingy with who you bring into camp - we're all the same boat now."

"...Right."

"So," Dean said, looking at Jimmy. "We can set you up with tech with Chuck and Anna. He's brilliant, but we think he's lonely. I think you'd be able to connect with him quickly. Plus, I think you've already met the lovely Anna?" Jimmy nodded, and Anna tilted her head, still smiling. Dean smiled back and nodded. "Awesome." He nodded his head at Sam. "Sam and Anna can take you there."

Sam nodded and gestured at Jimmy. "C'mon. You'll love Chuck. He never stops talking about computers and stuff. He's awesome." Anna followed suit, turning back to Castiel and Dean and raising a thumb. Dean raised his thumb right back. And with that, Castiel was left alone standing in front of Dean.

Dean looked Castiel up and down. "So, what do you do? Everyone around here pulls their share. We've got scavengers, gun-fanatics, you name it."

Castiel wringed his hands. "I don't know. I was never really got at anything, I guess. I was training to be a doctor before everything happened."

"Woah, really?" Dean replied. "Cause we could use a doctor, even an almost-doctor."

"Oh...okay then." Castiel replied.

Dean eyed him. "I'm liking you already, Cas."

Castiel frowned. "What the hell is a 'Cas'?"

"Dude, relax." Dean said, clapping Castiel on the shoulder. "It's just a shortened version of your name. What, haven't you heard of nicknames?"

"My family and friends called me Castiel, Dean."

"Well then...your new family is just gonna have to call ya Cas. I mean, not to sound rude," Dean lifted his hands to show surrender. "But Castiel is kinda a mouthful. But if you seriously don't like it, I won't call you that again."

Castiel sighed. "Fine. You can call me...Cas, if you wish."

"Dude," Dean said, pointing a finger at Castiel. "You're awesome."

Castiel smiled a little.

\---

Dean and Castiel walked around the grounds, with Dean showing Castiel where everything was, and  _who_  everyone was. Castiel had met a clever red-head named Charlie, who happened to be talking about dragons to Garth. She shook Castiel's hand and welcomed him to the base, commentating that "he's a beefcake", and hitting him on the shoulder, which slightly surprised Castiel. When Dean mentioned that Castiel's brother was a techno-geek, Charlie smiled.

" _Finally!_ Someone to talk nerdy to!" She exclaimed. "You know, all the guys around here just want to talk about shooting zombies and making their guns bigger. I just want to talk about Doctor Who and D &D, ya know?" She said to Castiel, who just looked at her in reply, confusion on his face. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Seriously? D&D? World of Warcraft? Anything?" Castiel shook his head in reply at her. "Gah, men." She said, throwing her hands up in the air. "What am I going to do with you all?"

\---

After the short tour of the base, which included the kitchens and where Castiel would be sleeping, Dean took him back to Bobby's tent, where the man as still cleaning and inspecting his impressive gun collection. Dean and Bobby talked for a few moments before the old man looked at Castiel.

"You any good with a gun, boy?" Bobby asked. He was gruff-looking, which a southern-ish accent that Castiel couldn't place. His beard was very grey and his baseball cap was old and torn up.

Castiel shook his head. "I mean, not really. My father taught me when I was a kid, but I never really got into the whole gun thing."

"Shame. We could use more soldiers." came Bobby's reply.

"I guess so, sir." Castiel replied. "But I just never had the time to go out and shoot."

"Well, have Dean show you." Bobby replied. 

Castiel then felt his ears burn.

\---

Later, after meeting most of the inhabitants of the base, Dean showed Castiel the armory.

"This is where we keep the guns."

"I thought Bobby-"

"Nah, that's Bobby's collection. Likes to show them off. Here's where we keep the bad boys."

"Y-Yeah, it looks like you have...a lot of them?"

Dean grinned. "Well, yeah. Always have to keep a steady stock of bullets - never know when a horde will come stomping at the gates."

Castiel glanced over to the large rack of pistols on the wall. It was indeed impressive, with several sizes of guns either hanging on hooks or laid up against the wall. There were a lot of boxes of ammunition, and there was even a collections of assorted knifes and swords. Castiel whistled in amazement, then asked, "So, will you teach me?"

Dean shrugged. "Sure. We need all the help we can get. We can start tomorrow, if you want. I'll make a crack shot of you yet."

\---

When the sun had begun to show signs of setting, Dean led Castiel to the large barn near the middle of the base, which, he had explained earlier, was the lunchroom and where most of the people on the base slept. Castiel was surprised by how large it was on the inside, and also noticed that it went slightly underground as well - that, he guessed, most likely led to some sleeping quarters. Dean explained that when the numbers became big, the barn did too. 

"So, how long have you been on this base?" Castiel asked, his dinner placed in front of him and sitting directly across from Dean at the table. Most of the base was inside the barn, eating and talking happily. 

Dean shrugged and ate a piece of bread. "This land is Bobby's, actually. Sam and I played in the fields all the time. When the virus hit, Dad took us here."

"And, your father? I don't think I've met him yet, have I?"

Dean froze. "He's not here." he replied flatly.

Castiel felt he hit a sour note. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"He's not dead." Dean said quickly. "He's just...not here."

Castiel quickly nodded his head and ate another spoonful of soup. It tasted amazing! "Where did you get this? This is delicious!" he exclaimed.

"Well, on top of being a bad-ass with an axe, Anna is a pretty good cook." Dean replied, and then pointed his spoon across the barn to see the redhead was sitting, talking to Charlie and Garth. Castiel breathed in suddenly. He could swear it was the sunset light coming through the barn door, but Anna looked...breathtaking. He had to admit, it wasn't like when he met Dean for the first time, but he put that memory in the back of his mind, figuring that Dean Winchester always had that effect on everyone. But Anna...she was beautiful.

"Woah." Was all he could say after a minute of staring.

Dean laughed. "Yeah, she has that effect, doesn't she?"

But Castiel wasn't listening anymore. He just continued to look over at her.


	2. And On The Fourth Day...

Castiel Novak, used-to-be doctor-in-training, was soon assigned to a small brick building near the center of the base, which Dean had designated as the hospital. Castiel tried to tell Dean that he wasn't actually a doctor, that he technically couldn't provide that much medical care for the hurt, but Dean was convinced that Cas should and would be able to help, which was the base of their conversation as Dean led the poor trainee-not-doctor to the little building.

"But I was only _training_ , Dean." Cas continued to explain to the persistent Dean.

"But from what Jimmy tells me, you were almost done, Cas." Came the reply. 

"I was still in residency!"

"Meaning-?"

"That I'm not actually a _proper doctor!_ "

"Hey, I know you can do this." Dean said, placing a hand on Cas' shoulder. Castiel tried to hide the burning in his cheeks as they approached the building. When they entered, Cas noticed a few beds against the wall, several curtains hanging from the ceiling, and two people already working. One of the younger looking ones, which Cas guessed that he had to only be about 17, came up to the pair.

"Hey, Dean." The boy said. Dean nodded his head.

"Hey, buddy." Dean replied. He then gestured to Cas. "This is Castiel. He's our new doctor."

" _Dean!_ " Castiel hissed. " _I was a doctor-in-training!_ "

"How many years have you done?" The boy asked him. Cas looked over at him.

"10."

"That's better than what I got in - I only had 2 years under my belt. I'm Samandriel, by the way." he stuck out his hand. Cas shook it. "You were probably in residency, huh?"

Cas nodded and looked at Dean, raising an eyebrow that read as a silent _told you so_. Dean looked at him back and shrugged, with Castiel rolling his eyes. "Cas, they need a doctor. Or what could qualify as one. Little Sammy here and Gabe...well...they can only do so much." Dean said.

"Wait, Gabe-?"

"Gabriel, yeah. I think you've met?" Dean looked around and spotted the man in the corner folding bandages. At the mention of his name, Gabriel looked up and smiled. Castiel took a step back, startled, realising that he didnt even see the man when they entered.

"Nice to see you 'gain, Castiel!" he said.

"Yeah...I didn't know you were medical?" Cas asked.

"That's why I usually go out on raids." Gabe replied, coming over to meet them. "Lil' Sam doesn't have that much training, so I go out in the field, making sure the boys don't get in too much trouble." As he said this, he slapped Dean on the shoulder. Dean grimaced.

"You know me, Gabe," Dean said. "Always happy to bleed for the human race."

" _Riiiight_." Gabriel replied, raising and lowering his eyebrows in annoyance. "Well, if you all would excuse me, I gotta finish my chores before sundown. Plus, I wanna see if Charlie still has any goodies left over from the last time we went out." He started towards the exit. "I've been missing Sour Patch Kids like hell these days." And then he was gone.

Cas looked at Samandriel, studying him. He looked as though he had been through hell and back.

"So, you're assistant, I take it?" Cas finally asked. "I mean, not to make fun or anything."

Samandriel shrugged. "That's all I'm good for. If it wasn't for this damned virus, I would still be studying."

"Don't get that upset, man." Dean said. "Sam was on his way to be a lawyer - even studied at Stamford!"

But the blond man sighed. "But still. I wish I could be of more help."

Cas looked at him, and then felt sorry for the kid. It wasn't his fault that this virus had ruined everyone's futures. He smiled a little and took the boys' shoulder.

"But I could use all the help I can get." Castiel assured him.  
\---

Later that day, Cas had decided to visit his brother at the communications building. As he approached, he saw his brother leaning over something near a large satellite dish that was pointing at the sky.

"Jimmy?"

Jimmy looked up to him, and smiled. "Hey, Castiel. This place is great, isn't it? Look at all this tech stuff!" He gestured to a large black box on the ground, which had wires sticking out of it, as well as some switches and lights on it.. "Anna and I are trying to figure out the radio here. If we can get that thing going, we could get a stronger radio signal out! We can see if there are any other survivors!"

Castiel smiled. "That's great, man!"

"And what about you? Heard they put you in the hospital." Jimmy said, wiping his hands on his jeans.

Castiel sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "They needed a doctor, and they think I'm a proper one."

"Man, you were the smartest one in your class, you were a doctor."

"Not by dad's standards." Castiel said softly. Jimmy closed his eyes and quietly sighed.

"Cas..."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring him up." Castiel replied. It had been a little over two years, but Castiel still knew that talking about their father was a touchy subject. He knew that while he was excelling in medical school, as was the wish of their father, Jimmy had dropped out of MIT and wanted to pursue a career in application designing - something that their father was completely against, and almost made Castiel lose his brother. The day of the virus outbreak was horrendous, but all Castiel remembered was holding his father and noticing that he never once looked at the younger Novak twin, nor did he ever say anything to him as he drew his last breaths. Castiel suddenly snapped back to the present time and tried to converse as normal by asking "So, have you seen this whole place yet?"

Jimmy shook his head and walked past him to a slightly off-colored table covered in papers. "Not really. I've been working on some stuff with Charlie. You?"

"Nah."

"Maybe you should get someone to really take a tour with you? What about that redhead? What was her name...?"

"...Anna." Castiel replied quietly.

"Cas," Jimmy said, placing a hand on the table and one on his hip. "Just talk to her. I think she's in the kitchens."

"Wait-"

"Dude, just go. Don't be a pansy." Jimmy rolled his eyes. "You're such a pansy."

Cas frowned. He then turned and walked off.

He walked around the base, eventually finding himself at the cafeteria building. A few people were scrambling about, trying to prepare that night's dinner. It was a large space, with different sized tables all around, filled with people from different stages of life (and the end of the world). He spotted Garth and Ash, and Bobby and Charlie, and some of the others that Dean had introduced him to earlier. As he walked by to get his food, some people watched him, curious of the new arrival. When he finally got his dinner (which looked heavenly), he sat down at one of the empty tables. He had barely gotten one bite of bread when a figure appeared next to him. Castiel froze, slowly turning his head to see the short redhead standing next to him.

"Hey Castiel!" Anna beamed at him. "Been wondering when I was gonna see you again!" Castiel nodded quickly in response. She smiled. "Wow, I mean, I know it's only been like, a few days? So why haven't you come and seen me yet?" She asked. Castiel shrugged. She laughed at him. "Seriously, you don't have to be afraid of me."

"Er...right. I mean...I was planning on finding you..." he flushed.

Anna shook her head and continued to smile at him. "Well, Castiel. How about you take a girl to dinner?"

"We are at dinner." He replied flatly.

She laughed quietly and lightly punched him in the shoulder. "I mean, can I join you? Hate for the new kid to sit all alone on the first day of school."  
\---

"So there I was, surrounded by like, 10 zombs, when Dean shows out of nowhere and kills them all!" Anna was saying over dinner. The pair were now sharing a plate of the most amazing spaghetti, and Castiel was listening intently as Anna was talking about how she came to the base.

"Well, long-story-short, I was brought here, taught how to use a gun properly, and Dean has me go out on supply runs." She scooped some of her food into her fork and ate it, chewing her food as she continued. "And sometimes you can catch me here, since I'm a decent cook too." She swallowed and then gestured to him with her fork. "I heard you got assigned to the hospital?"

"Yeah, even though I'm not a doctor." He replied.

Anna looked at him, confused. "I thought you had some years of medical school in your belt?"

"Exactly. I didn't get to finish."

"It's better than nothing, isn't it?"

"I..." Cas stopped and sighed. "Yeah."

"Well, we need a doctor - or at least, an almost-doctor, around here."

Castiel scooped some more noodles into his mouth, feeling his hand shaking, but he ignored it. "So...do you have any family here?"

"Nope." Anna replied flatly. "My mother died trying to get me out of Miami..."

"My condolences."

"It's alright...and thanks." Anna twirled her fork around her side of the pasta. "She would be happy that I got out of there, and that I'm safe. Not a lot of people can say that. Miami was deadly, and I was able to make out of there alive! It's a pretty cool story to tell now."

Cas looked down at his food. "Yeah."

Silence.

"Castiel, can I ask you something?"

Cas looked up from his plate. "Sure."

"You and Jimmy...you two weren't always alone, were you?"

"No, we had a dad...he was in charge as we traveled around...he's gone."

"And your mom?"

"Died in the first few hours of the virus attack...my father tried to save her, but couldn't. He-" Castiel swallowed what tasted like bile rising in his throat. "He had to decapitate her to make sure she didn't turn. I still see her sometimes, crying for him to kill her." He shuddered. "I begged Jimmy not to look."

"My god." Anna replied, her hand rising to her mouth. "That's horrible."

"Yeah, but I didn't see him do it. I turned away while he raised the axe, so I guess that is a bit comforting." He replied, looking down at his plate. "I'm glad she passed when she did, though. What Jimmy and I have been through...I don't think she could've handled it. She was too good for that."

They sat in silence for a moment. Anna kept looking at him, compassion in her eyes. She then reached across the table to take his hand in hers. "I bet she was lovely."

"She would've loved you."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Cas froze. "Shit-I meant-"

But Anna smiled and giggled a little. "I get it. I'm a good person. We would've gotten along."

Castiel looked at her, and started to feel something rise from his stomach - but it wasn't bile...it felt...light.

"What was her name?"

"Hannah."

"What a pretty name."

"And she was pretty." Castiel replied, tilting his head and sighing. "She was like an angel. I guess all the Novak woman were."

"Novak? Oh right, that's your last name. Duh." Anna laughed softly. Castiel laughed with her. 

"It's a weird last name, I know."

"Not as weird as Milton, but I guess." Anna rubbed her thumb across the Castiel's closed hand. He looked down at their enclosed palms, and noticed how soft her hands were. He followed her arm, to her face, and realized that she was glowing. Anna blinked and gave a little grin.

"You're staring, Cas."

"Sorry..."

"No, no you're...fine." She said softly, staring at him back. They just looked at each other for what seemed like forever. He could see the faint freckles on her nose, the way her hair was parted to the left side, the way her mouth was open in a small 'o'. How he wanted to kiss that little 'o'.

"And your dad?" Anna asked quietly. 

"Gone."

"What happened?"

"He died, trying to save us." Castiel breathed in. "I don't-"

"I'm sorry!" Anna said, worry coming on her face. "I didn't mean to get on a touchy subject. But..." He looked at the way her eyebrows were starting to crinkle together bit. "Novak...that sounds familiar..."

Cas froze. "Er, yeah it does. It's common." he said quickly, trying to change the subject. "I'm not hungry anymore. I can take you back to your quarters."

Anna looked at him. "Um, okay?"

"Sorry..." Cas said, standing up. "I mean...my family, all i've talked about is my family..."

"Right." Anna replied, standing up as well. The two walked out of the cafeteria. They walked a few feet in silence, until Anna spoke again.

"Cas, listen-"

"No, it's okay. Really. One day, I'll get around to talking about my dad again. But until then..."

"I understand. I'm sorry, really."

Cas looked at her and smiled. "When the time's right, I'll explain everything to you."

After their dinner, Anna offered to walk him around the base, saying that it was actually pretty nice at night, with it being lit up. "But there's as place you have to see." She said as she led the way. When they arrived at one part of the base, the two talking about the good old days, Anna stopped suddenly, and looked up. "Wow. You don't get to see that in the city." Cas looked up as well.

The night sky was full of brilliant stars - a sight unknown to major cities. Cas sighed. "It's beautiful."

"If there was only one good thing about the whole 'apocalypse' thing, it would be this." Anna said. "No more bright lights to dim the stars."

"Yeah..."

When they finally reached one of the sleeping quarters, they stopped outside the door. Castiel suddenly felt very nervous.

"Cas..."

"Y-yeah?"

Anna smiled."Goodnight."

"G-goodnight, Anna."

She looked at him, and then opened the door. Castiel sighed loudly when her figure disappeared behind the closing door, and groaned inwardly.

 _"You idiot!"_ He said to himself. _"That was a signal to kiss her you gigantic IDIOT!"_ He hit himself in the head as he walked towards the hospital. _"This is why you were single during high school, you moron..."_

Castiel started walking back to the hospital. The base was dimly lit (naturally, to keep them hidden from outside forces), and it was that light that guided him to the hospital doors. He quietly entered and looked around the room to make sure no one was inside. When he saw that the coast was clear, he went over to his desk and grabbed the back hidden underneath it. Once he had the back in his lap, he un-zipped the bag and reached in gingerly. He breathed in a sigh of relief - it was all still intact. He pulled out the two blood-filled syringes and laid on on the desk.

After taking out all of the contents of his bag, he started working on carefully opening the bags - the blood bags marked O-positive, clean and red, and the others, dirty and dark red, for the next few hours. Castiel kept a ready ear for the door, however - he knew if he was caught...  
\---

The next morning, Cas did all he could to avoid Anna - he didn't think it would be right for an idiot like him to be with a girl like her - and asked Jimmy to bring him some breakfast at the hospital. Jimmy, thankfully, didn't pry as to why Castiel was hiding out.

Later that day, as Cas was counting the number of useable syringes in stock (only a few were probably infected - Samandriel kept the place decently stocked, which was incredible), Dean showed up, two shotguns in hands. When Cas saw him, confusion swept over his face.

"Dean?"

"I think it's high time you learned how to shoot, Cas."

Cas shook his head. "No way. I could kill someone with that thing."

Dean smiled and handed a shotgun to him. "That's the idea."  
\---

"Now, the trick is to brace for the kick."

Dean and Cas were now in the back of the base, furthest from where anyone would just wander through. Castiel didn't know they had a shooting range, but he did now. Several cardboard dummies were placed in different directions in front of him - he could see bullet holes through many of them. Gulping, he raised the shotgun to eye level.

"Now...breathe." Dean was telling him. Cas breathed in and out, trying to steady the shakiness that was about to get to his hands. He breathed in again.

"Now, carefully, pull the trigger."

Cas felt his finger gently pull on the trigger.

And he found himself on his butt on the ground.

"Woah." he breathed out.

Dean, however, was laughing. "Some kick, huh?"

"Yeah...it's been a while..." Cas started to get up, and felt his shoulder hurt - he knew there had to be a bruise there. He rubbed it gingerly. "Some kick."

"Ah, it's okay, Cas - wait. 'Been a while?'"

"Yes, Dean." Castiel resting the gun beside his leg. "My father taught Jimmy and I from a young age."

"Woah, I thought you didn't know. Like, at all."

Castiel shrugged. "Most people didn't know. I didn't like it too much. I focused on my dream of medical school."

Dean stood there, a little bit of shock on his face. "How long has it been, then?"

"I don't know...last time I shot anything I was about, 9." Castiel replied. "What about you? How old where you?"

"I was 5 when my dad put a gun in my hands."

"That's a little young."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, but my dad was always a hunter. Was so excited to get a boy, to teach him how to hunt buck and stuff. Got double excited when Sam was born." Dean tapped his gun with his hand. "Took me a while to get the hang of it, but Sam...natural, he was." Dean replied. He then turned, raised his shotgun to his eyes. The gun blast nearly deafened Cas as the bullet went straight through the dummy's head. "But all you have to do is practice. You'll be shooting those corpses like your teacher here."

Cas sighed. "Practice is gonna kill my shoulder."

\---

After about an hour of shooting dummies and sandbags, Castiel finally had a hold on how to shoot - now, shooting the dummy though the head was the next part. Dean promised Cas another lesson later, after a supply run.

"Oh, and keep the gun." Dean said, as they were walking back to the hospital. "Never know when you're gonna need it."

When they reached the hospital, the pair saw Anna leaning in the doorway. Cas seized up. Dean noticed this.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

Cas hissed back, "Anna."

"What about her?"

"I...She...We..."

"Dude!" Dean smiled. "Did you take out Anna last night?"

"Maybe."

"Awesome!" Dean slapped Cas' shoulder, and Cas winced visibly. "Did you kiss her?"

Cas didn't say anything. As they got closer and closer to the hospital, he could hear Dean chuckle quietly.

"Huh, now I see why you're freaking out." Dean said. "You know, I'm kinda the suave guy with the ladies," he grinned stupidly and winked. "I could teach you how to-"

"Cas!" Anna's voice called out, and instantly he froze. He stared at Dean, who raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Good luck, buddy." And with that, Dean sauntered off. Cas almost wanted to grab the man by the arm and punch him when Anna walked up in front of him. Castiel quickly breathed in.

"H-hey, Anna." Cas said.

"I've been looking all over for you! I just wanted to tell you that last night-"

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Cas said, putting a hand on his face. "I'm such an idiot! I knew I should've kissed you, Anna, but my brain just froze! I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!"

"What?" Anna replied. "I was just going to tell you that last night was awesome...you wanted to kiss me?"

Cas' fear flooded his face. "Y...yes?"

Anna smiled, and grabbed his shirt. Before Cas could react, he felt her soft lips against his. He stood there, frozen for a few seconds, before melting into the kiss. After what felt like a lifetime, they separated.

" _Woah..._ " Cas whispered.

" _I was just about to say that._ " Anna whispered back.

\---

 _A few hours later..._  
  
Cas stretched his arms and pulled Anna closer to him, who was smiling and looking up at him.

"Hello." He said, planting a kiss on the top of her head. She hugged him.

"Hi."

"I bet everyone's wondering where we got off to..."

She shook her head. "We were only gone a few hours. Dinner's not until way later, and I don't think anyone's dying."

"Right."

They stayed in bed a few more minutes, and Cas finally sat up. He went over and picked up his clothes, as well as tossing some of Anna's onto her side of the bed. When they had finished redressing (and with Anna combing down Cas' sex hair), they hugged, kissed again, and both left the sleeping quarters. When they both went their separate ways, Cas couldn't help but smile. This happiness was apparent when Dean approached him.

"Dude, you look...different." He said. "You alright?"

"I feel awesome, Dean."

Dean gave him a quizzical look, and then shrugged. "Alright then. I just wanted to see if you'd be interested in guarding tonight - we need another man up in the tower."

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks man. Just get up there when you're ready - and ask for Chuck. He'll show you what to do."

Cas later found out, as he was talking to Dean, that the raid that he and the others were to go on was in something called 'dead space', which Cas questioned.

"Dead space is just...well..." Dean rubbed his neck. "It's enemy territory, basically."

"Enemy territory? Isn't the enemy, well, the _zombies?_ "

"Kinda, well...yeah. But there's more out there than zombs, Cas. Other survivors, but with a different idea on how to re-live life. And then there's the government-"

"Government?" Cas interrupted. "You mean, the US Government? They're still trying to kill us off?"

"I dunno where you've been, Cas." Dean replied. "But they haven't stopped killing everyone since day one. Remember the military back in the day, killing off those who were not even infected? Where do you think they got their orders?"

"But, if you're going into this dead space, wouldn't that be considered, oh I don't know, _dangerous?_ "

"Don't worry," Dean said, patting his pistol in his thigh-holster. "I live for danger."

Cas rolled his eyes and sighed. "Right."

\---

After dinner, Cas made his way to the watchtower, which was a pretty impressive sight, considering it was probably over 25 feet high, and completely made of metal - how the Winchesters were able to build it, Cas couldn't imagine. When he reached the ladder at the foot of the tower, he climbed it to one of the levels, where a short man was standing. When Cas reached the level, he coughed. The man turned around.

"Oh, hey! You must be Castiel!" The man walked to him and shook hands with Cas. "Name's Chuck Shurley."

"Castiel Novak, hi." Cas then frowned. "I thought you worked in communications?"

"Eh, I dabble. If anything, Charlie is the real tech geek around here. Every so often, I go down there and check up on things. Dean thinks coming to me will solve everything, when, in fact, I can't. And you can only do so much now that electricity is basically extinct." Chuck sighed. "So, if anyone tells you that I work in comms, they basically want me to fix up the satellite that's up on the top of the tower."

Cas nodded. "I see."

"So..." Chuck said. "Your brother, Jimmy...he's pretty awesome at the technology, huh? Who's older?"

"I am. 2 minutes."

"Well, I've gotta say, when I met your brother on that first day, I thought he was one-of-a-kind...that was, until I found out he was an identical twin!" Chuck smiled. "Also, he's pretty much genius. But don't let Charlie know that - gotta let the gal keep her pride!"

"Yeah." Cas replied. "Wait...who's Charlie again?"

"Charlie? Charlie Bradbury?"

Castiel shook his head.

"The redhead?"

That's when he remembered. "Oh, the D&D girl?"

"Oh, dude!" Chuck grinned and slapped Cas on his shoulder, which was still a bit sore. "Ain't she the best? But don't go chasing after her, believe me." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Men aren't her strong suit. And I should know - I chased after that beautiful red-head for almost 7 months - with no luck and a horrible dampening to my pride."

"Strong suit...?"

"Let's just say that she doesn't swing that way."  

"Oh," Cas replied, finally realising what he meant. "Right."   

"So, Castiel-" Chuck said.    

"You can call me Cas."  

"Alright...Cas...thanks for taking the job tonight, man." Chuck said, sighing and stretching his neck. "Overlooking everything, well, it has its cons. One of them is lack of sleep, and, in my case, 34 hours of it." He looked out onto the base, which was probably only about 10 feet below them. "So this is the lower level - we can see the base completely, but not around it - you have to go up a level. That level," he said, pointing upwards. "let's you see almost 3 miles around the whole base. Not bad, when trying to stop hordes from reaching us. Also holds the satellite, like I said before. Pretty important in contacting other bases and finding survivors on the frequency."  

Cas nodded. "Impressive. Are you off then?"  

"Yeeeep." Chuck replied, placing his hands on his lower back and slightly leaning backwards. "For me, it's sleep time. So if you don't mind, I could show you the rest after I sleep for 100 years?"

"Not at all." Castiel chuckled, moving slightly so that Chuck could walk towards the ladder.. 

"Thanks, Cas. I'll see you at dawn." Chuck was about to lower himself unto the ladder when he stopped. "Oh, and there's several crates of guns over there," he pointed to a corner, which Cas noticed had a significant amount of guns and ammunition boxes. "If you see something that isn't human, light up one of the flares. It'll give a signal to the base to prepare for an attack. And if you happen to see anything, well, unusual inside, around, or on the base walls, take arms and shoot it."  

"That's an impressive supply. You don't mind if I stay up here then, help you out?" 

"Dude, you'd be helping my sorry ass so much if you did that." Chuck replied. "And up here, I mean, that supply has to be, being the watchdog. I like being the sniper, the guard who warns of danger. It keeps me feeling a bit powerful, since I am pretty much useless at anything else. Anyway, see ya." Chuck lowered himself out of sight, and Cas watched from above as Chuck went into one of the sleeping quarters.   

" _Watches over everything_ , _huh?_ " Cas mumbled, looking out towards the horizon. " _Kinda sounds like the job that God used to do..._ "  
  
\---

The next hours of watching over the sleeping base proved to be uneventful, and Cas was eventually released from that position when a messy-haired Chuck appeared on the ladder, telling him that Dean was looking for him. With a sore neck and an empty stomach, Cas climbed down the tower and went to the kitchen. He saw Dean and Sam in line for some breakfast, and joined behind them. "Hey guys." he said. Sam turned his head and smiled.   

"Hey, Cas. How was watch duty?"

Cas rubbed his neck, and then picked up a paper plate. "Uneventful." 

"That's how most watches are, unfortunately." Sam replied. Dean nodded next to him.  

"Ywep." Dean had stuffed a roll in his mouth. "It was nwice uf you to help Chuck."

"Dean, that's gross." Sam cut in.

"Whatever, mwan." Came the reply, followed by a swallow. "I was up all night doing research, didn't have time to eat. I'm starving."

Same rolled his yes and resumed to eat his food, while an annoyed Dean rolled his eyes and stuffed another his mouth. But it didn't take long for Dean to start another conversation.

"So...you and Anna huh?" came the blunt question. 

Cas choked and coughed a piece of his eggs back up. "How-?"  

"Word travels fast 'round here." Dean replied, a huge smirk on his face.  

"Well..." Cas said slowly. "The word is, uh, true."  

"Dude!" Dean reached over and slapped Cas' shoulder.  

"Uh, thanks?"  

"Ignore him, Cas." Sam said, eating into his toast. "For some reason, he's more interested in you getting laid then he is keeping his gun clean."  

"Hey! My gun IS clean!" Dean exclaimed.  

"Yeah? Let's see it then." Sam asked.  

Huffing, Dean reached to his thigh and pulled his pistol out, gingerly handing it to his younger brother. Sam surveyed the weapon, and then opened it.  

"Dude, there's a whole lotta grime in there."  

"So?" Dean snapped, taking the gun back. "The world is dirty - it is bound to get dirty sometimes."  

"Yeah, on occasion. But jeez, it seems like it hasn't been cleaned in like, days."  

" _Shut up, Sam._ "  

Cas couldn't help but smile.

\---

When they had finished breakfast, Sam decided to go look for Bobby (who sort of intimidated Castiel to no end), while Dean handed Cas a shotgun. Cas groaned.  

"You have to learn how to shoot, man!" Dean replied to the groan.  

"Can't I just have a pistol?"  

"A pistol is a secondary weapon - to use in case you get yourself cornered. A shotgun is gonna save your life. Plus, a shotgun has more kick than a pistol - you can kill a zom with one shot from a shotgun to at least _four_ in a pistol."  

"Whatever, Dean." Cas sighed, placing the gun on his shoulder. As they walked to the shooting range, Cas adjusted the heavy gun on his shoulder. "Why couldn't I use an axe, like Anna?"  

"Cause Anna is good at axes."   

"I could be good too? Some people are just not born to shoot a gun."  

"Where in the hell did you hear that from?" Dean asked. Cas shook his head.  

"I didn't. I figured it was the truth, considering that I can't even make a shot through the head of a dummy without falling over."  

"You'll get the hang of it, Cas." Dean replied. "Here, I'll make you a promise - after several shooting sessions with me, if you can't make a head-shot through one of those targets, THEN I'll consider handing you an axe or a sword. But until then," Dean placed some shotgun shells in Cas' hand. "Gun."  

Cas sighed loudly, then finally put the shells into the gun. He cocked it, and then raised it to eye-level. "Hate you."  

"No you don't." came the response.  

A few minutes later (after Cas had finally successfully shot through the heart of a dummy), Dean took away the shotgun. Cas raised an eyebrow.  

"I thought-?"  

"I know what I said...but it seems you're getting better." Dean said. "Plus, it doesn't hurt that I'm your teacher."  

"Some teacher."  

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"   

"All you do is stand there and watch me waste bullets." Cas replied, shrugging. "And telling me to shoot through the head."  

"Dude, I'm an awesome teacher." Dean said, frowning.   

"Yeah, okay." Cas replied, and almost turned away to leave when Dean grabbed his shoulder. Cas stopped. "Dude, let go."   

"C'mon, man! I can't take you to raids unless you learn how to shoot!"  

That made the both of them freeze. Cas turned his head to look at him. "What?"   

"I..er...never mind."   

"You... want to take me...on a raid?" Cas said slowly. Cas couldn't believe his ears - a raid meant being with Dean. _Wait, why does that sound so good all of the sudden?_ He thought.   

Dean looked at him. "Only if you can make a decent head-shot-"   

But Cas suddenly took the shotgun from Dean's hand, and raised it. Before Dean could interject, Cas aimed for the head of the dummy. With a slight pull of the trigger, the bullet connected to its target. Cas smiled.   

"Looks like I'm going with you on the next raid." he said.

Dean just stood there, speechless. Castiel couldn't help but laugh but at him. After a few seconds, Dean joined in the laughter. The two kept on howling, with Castiel reaching out trying to grab Dean's shoulder- but the second they touched, a sudden shock ran through the both of them. Castiel's blue eyes met Dean's green eyes, and for a moment, Castiel swore that time stood still.   

"Uh..." Cas started. He then realised his hand was still on Dean's shoulder, and quickly pulled away.

"It's fine." Dean interjected. "I'll uh...see when we leave next..."

The air around them filled with awkward tension.   

"I've got to go." They both suddenly said, and then went their separate ways. Castiel could swear that everyone was staring at him as he tried to nonchalantly walk back to the hospital, but he had a feeling his bright-red heat-feeling face was like a beacon, and he prayed that no one else could see him as he entered the hospital and slunk down against the wall unto the floor.

\---

That night, while Castiel and Anna were cuddling in her bed, Cas couldn't help but feel his chest weighing heavier when he thought about what happened with Dean. He looked down at his chest and saw Anna lying on him. He loved watching her chest rise and fall against his, and he actually felt at peace, for once. He sighed deeply.   

"Anna?" he asked quietly.   

"Yeah?"   

"I just have a question...about Dean?"   

"Sure." Anna looked up at him. "What's up?"   

"Has he always been leader?"   

Anna sighed. "Well, when the virus hit," she started. "Sam and Dean's father actually took them here. He believed that this whole thing was going to blow over, but their mother insisted they stay somewhere safe. When she died...well, his father kinda lost it. When he went off for a raid, Dean took over, and started bringing in more people for shelter." Anna adjusted her head on Castiel's shoulder before continuing. "Apparently, that pissed off John, who believed that saving people wasn't his, or Dean's, problem. You can say that Dean and his dad were on off-terms when he died."   

"Wait...died?" Castiel blinked in shock. "But Dean said-"   

"Dean doesn't like to face the truth. Even to this day, he still thinks that his dad is out there, getting supplies...that he'll show up at the gates like before." Anna adjusted herself slightly to look up at him. "Cas...John Winchester died several months ago. He was trying to save Mary from a freak fire that alerted a bunch of zombs. I don't know if you remember that fire that happened upstate, I think it was last January?"   

"That one that took out that entire town?" Castiel responded. "I think so...was it the the one that people claimed was the government's fault?"   

Anna nodded. "That's the one."   

Cas felt his eyes widen. "Woah. I knew that the government was chaotic but...after what happened in D.C. and Chicago, I just figured they let their military do their dirty work. Plus, I thought they had stopped doing that forever ago."

"Chicago.? You've been there?"

"You haven't?"

"Well, no. I'm a southern girl, by trade."

"Chicago went to hell after the virus struck. My brother and I barely escaped with our lives from there." Castiel felt his throat freeze a little. "It mostly hit the city, but it spread so quickly to the suburbs..."

"My god...that's...that's horrible." She replied, her voice soft.

That's when Castiel closed his eyes, his head starting to ache. "Could we talk about that at a different time? It's-"

"I get it. No really, I do." Anna said, rubbing her hand in circles on his chest. "Sorry."

"It's fine. So, Dean...he keeps a cool composure, huh?" Cas said. "I didn't know that about him."

"Most people don't. Dean keeps a long of things close to the chest. Sam, though, he'll tell you anything you need to know."   

Cas looked up at the ceiling, breathing softly. "But Dean seems so...oh I don't know...fine?"   

"He acts that way for the base." Anna replied. "If your leader was seen as unstable, you wouldn't want them leading you, right? Dean plays the act that he's fine and collected...but he's seriously hurting. I've been his friend forever now, but he still won't talk to me about his dad, or his mom, or before this all happened."   

"And...he doesn't have anyone here to help him? Like, talk through it? He sounds like he needs a therapist."   

"Other than Sam? No." Anna said, closing her eyes. "There was Michael, but after he died-"   

"Michael?" Cas asked.   

"Dean's old flame."   

"Old-?" Cas choked. He sat up, bringing Anna's head with him. She stared at him, confused.   

"Yeah...his boyfriend. I mean, he mostly sticks to girls now, but...oh come on Castiel! I thought you figured that out already."   

"I..." Cas just sat there, flabbergasted. "I didn't..."   

"Like I said," Anna said quietly, laying her hand on his chest. "Most people don't know." When he didn't say anything, she spoke again. "He doesn't like opening up to people."   

"God..." Cas replied, putting a hand on his forehead. "I'm just shocked, you know? Dean just seems like he would be into ladies...I mean, totally into ladies."   

"Playing the act...that's the Dean Winchester way." came her reply. "I know it, Sam knows it, everyone knows it. He will break hearts and skulls before he ever talks to anyone about his _feelings_."

**Author's Note:**

> A Destiel fic that will take ages cause I never have the time these days. BUT I have learned that keeping a journal with ideas on the plot is an amazing idea that I recommend to anyone.  
> Enjoy the story - and if you would like to help me edit, co-write, or anything with this story, message me: thefrankiieffect @ tumblr


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